Appreciation
by xXAwesomeSauceXx
Summary: One-shot. What does Percy do on..."Mother's Day", while he's at camp? Write a Mother's Day letter! But to who? To Amphitrite, of course! So, what will this OOCness lead to?


**A/N: Helloo readers! Just to let any of you, who have been reading my other stories (_Gabe: UnPetrified_, _Sophomore Year_, and/or _Who Are_ _You?_), know, I've set my priorities straight. This one-shot, which was a plot bunny just screaming to be written, will be followed by an update of Sophomore Year. Hopefully, I'll get both of these stories done today. If I'm still in the mood, I'll try to publish an update of _Gabe: UnPetrified. _But if I only get one story down, the other two should be done on Saturday. The setting in the one-shot is supposed to be on 'Mothers Day', but at CHB. I know Percy's supposed to be at school, but never mind that! I hope you enjoy this little Mothers' Day tribute!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah...I don't own it. That would be cool if I did, though. Then again, Percy wouldn't as awesome if I had anything to do with owning it. All I own is the plot. (1) Stole that little 'warm-and-fuzzy' line from TLO; chapter 7, to be exact.**

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><p>Cabin Three; Approx. 7:30 pm<p>

"...yeah, love you, too, Mom. Happy Mother's Day, and I'll see you soon!" said a voice from cabin three.

Sally Jackson's image in the mist frowned. "Oh..um okay, then. Leaving me so soon? You better not be off saving the world again, hero. Stay safe, honey! Try not to—"

"_Okay, _Mom! Paul's picking me up on Saturday, I mean, it's _just_ five days," Percy said, rolling his eyes at his mother.

"Yes, it's only five days. But at least it's five days free of exploding shower heads and dripping faucets!" Sally chuckled.

The son of Poseidon smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Well, I got to go. Bye, Mom." he sighed, as the Iris Message dissipated.

_Mother's Day..._ Percy thought. _I wonder if Amphi— ah, I guess it doesn't matter. _

_Mother's Day..._ something, somewhere in his subconscious, repeated. Percy slumped down on his bunk, before staring at the piece of paper on his drawer. He sighed. _It's worth a shot, _he thought. _I mean, all mothers deserve recognition, right? The worst she could do is blast the paper..._

_It's freaking _Amphitrite_! _a more sensible part of his head thought. His mind flashed back to the first time he met the goddess, and her son. Hate and hostility. Ah, those two words made all him feel _warm and fuzzy_ inside. **(1)**

_Don't do it, Perce. Oh dear gods, I'm talking to myself. _Percy shook his head. But it wouldn't hurt to write _one_ letter, would it? He grabbed the thin paper and a ballpoint pen. You know, one that _didn't_ turn into a bronze sword.

_Lady Amphitrite... _He began writing.

Camp Beach/Long Island Sound; Approx. 8:45 pm

"Are you _sure _you want to do this, Perce?" Annabeth asked her friend. "I mean, it took Susan _five years_ to welcome me into 'her' home."

Percy shrugged. "I'm pretty sure. Maybe instead of hating me, she'll just dislike me with a strong passion. Besides, it's Mother's Day. She deserves that much," he said, clutching the envelope firmly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah...Mother's Day...since when did you start caring about what Amphitrite thinks about you?"

"It's not that I care, I just..." Percy began.

"...don't want your dad to suffer the whole 'Mortal Affair' heat for millennia to come?" Annabeth guessed, taking into account _her_ past experiences with _extended_ family.

He shrugged again, with a _Yeah, I guess so,_ look on his face.

"Well," Annabeth said, holding her hands up, "good luck with that."

Percy sat in the sand, looking out into the sound, as his gray-eyed friend walked away. He felt like he could just sit there in the sand forever, for hours on end, watching the waves push and pull. But Mother's Day wouldn't last all week.

He hefted a sigh, and walked into the water of the sound, until he met up with a pod of dolphins. _Son of the Sea God! Son of the Sea God!_ they said in their little bewildered minds.

"Yeah, hey guys. Or, erm, dolphins...I mean. Um, never mind. Anyways, you mind doing me a small favor?" Percy asked, halfheartedly.

_Yes, lord! Of course! _they replied, filled with glee.

"Um, yeah. Okay, well, can you bring this to Amphitrite for me? And, uh, don't tell Delphin... I kinda don't want Poseidon to know about this...yet," he told the pod, handing the envelope to the scary-looking dolphin. If Ares had somehow convinced Poseidon to create a sea creature that looked like the God of War, himself, that was it.

_On our way, sir! We will not let you down! _the pod squeaked, mostly in sync, as they swam quickly into the abyss of the sound.

Percy stuck his hands into his pockets. A realization soon struck him. It was _Monday_. The _9th_ of May. Mother's Day was the day _before_. No wonder both Annabeth _and_ his mother had been caught of guard for a bit.

_Awesome. Just _awesome._ Now she's going to think that I'm an even bigger idiot. _He thought.

"I should have listened to Annabeth," he groaned. He said, as he trudged back to the beach, "Gods, I have been saying that _a lot_ lately."

He found himself confronted with that same gray-eyed girl, to whom he had left a few minutes ago. Percy plopped himself on the sand, once again, and faced the ocean.

"So...did you figure it out?" Annabeth asked, smirking.

"Yeah. I guess I don't really pay attention to dates...you know, unless we're in some life-or-death situation, where we're counting the days left until some solstice-deadline." Percy admitted, biting his lip.

"Well, I have to say, that was pretty brave."

"Doing what? Messing up?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

Annabeth nodded. "Pretty much."

"Was it braver than facing Kronos?" he further on questioned.

"Not really."

Percy lightly punched her. "Wow, that _really_ makes me feel better, Wise Girl."

"Ah, don't get too worked up about it, Perce. Though, I bet Triton won't let you live it down."

"As I said before, I'm really feeling the love, here. _Really_ feeling the love," he said, laughing, even though he was, in a way, insulted.

"Okay, okay. Well, let's get you down to the Hermes cabin. Bags of chips and cans of soda aren't what _I_ would consider a healthy dinner, but it's your fault that you missed dinner at the pavilion." Annabeth said. "You were gone longer than you'd think."

Percy smiled as they walked away from the beach.

Somewhere in Poseidon's Kingdom (Which is pretty much the whole ocean...)  
>Approx. 10:00 pm<p>

_Lady Amphitrite! _The Ares-looking dolphin called, as it swam up to the Sea Queen.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at the dolphin.

_This is for you, my queen! _

She kindly smiled, "Why thank you. And may I ask who this is from?"

_It is from the demigod son of Poseidon! Ah, Perseus Jackson! In fact, he_— __

Amphitrite didn't want to hear anymore. She hesitated. "Ah, very well... Hand it over,"

The Ares-dolphin quickly swam away, as soon as she took it from it's mouth. _What does that atrocious boy want _now_? _she thought. Amphitrite ripped open the somewhat dirty envelope, not caring if she tore the paper inside.

_Ugh, it seems as the boy has no presentation skills, whatsoever, _she thought, examining the wrinkled paper, which was folded on uneven creases.

Her eyebrows knitted together, as she read the chicken scrawl etched onto the plain paper.

**_Lady Amphitrite_,** the letter began.

"Hmph. At least the boy knows how to address me," Amphitrite mused.

**_Okay...well, I don't how to begin this. Yeah, I know we're on odd terms with the whole...extended family thing. But, as you can tell, it's May 8th and—_**

"May 8th!" she exclaimed. Amphitrite scolded, "The boy can't even count his days."

**___—I thought it would be the nice kind of thing to do, since it's Mother's Day, and all. But you probably already know that.___**

She stared at the valueless page of paper. _Mother's Day?_ She had not even noticed that.

**_I know you're not my mom, and I know I'm an eyesore to you, but every mom deserves to be appreciated today. Probably EVERY word in this letter is spelled wrong, but I hope I can still get the message across. Anyway, Poseidon and Triton are pretty lucky to have you. _**

The gears where turning in Amphitrite's head. How could this _half-blood_ ___—___a _broken oath, _nonetheless___— ___care so much about her, just because of this silly little 'Mother's Day'?

**_I didn't write this letter so you would like me, or anything. I mean, that's totally fine with me...I think. I understand that the whole affair-with-a-mortal thing is...uh, nevermind. Is nevermind one word, or two words? You know, I hate writing in pen. No eraser!_**

She raised an eyebrow at the boy's rambling. How could someone she despised _so much_, sound so carefree when writing to her?

**_I think I'm reaching the end of this letter, Amphitrite. So, have a pleasant Mother's Day. _**

Amphitrite noted that he did not write '...have a _happy _Mother's Day' like most mortals would.

**_Regards, Percy Jackson_**

She stared at the simple paper, for what might have been hours, before finally taking into account what she just read. How had Triton, her _actual_ son, never told her of this 'Mother's Day'? As Amphitrite could tell, Perseus Jackson disliked her as much as she disliked him. And yet, he wanted _her_ to feel _appreciated._ What irony.

"Mother?" a voice asked, surprising her.

Amphitrite spun around. "Oh, Triton. It's you. Is something wrong?" she asked her son, careful to hide the paper and envelope behind her.

"Nothing," he said slowly. "What are you holding?"

She held a small sigh. It wouldn't hurt to...no, she couldn't tell _Triton_ about what his half-brother, the non-cyclopes one, had done. (That rhymed!)

"Oh, this?" she brought the paper from out behind her. "Well...burn it. Please just take, rip it to shreds, bury it, destroy it in _any way. _Just do not read it,"

"Why? Mother___—___"

"Please, Triton, just one small favor."

He blinked. "As you wish, Mother," he grumbled. He snatched it from Amphitrite's hand, and swam away, leaving her to silence, once again.

A question soon came to Amphitrite. Were mere _mortals, _with their expectedly short lives, more caring than the gods? She looked at the facts. Sally Jackson, the 'Queen Among Mortals' in Poseidon's eyes, did not want to live in his underwater kingdom, because she cared about her son, who had just written her a Mother's Day letter.

There were somethings the gods just overlooked. But even godly mothers need to be appreciated.

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><p><strong>Whoa, this came out longer than expected. Well, I'm way too tired to update my other stories, so that deadline will be pushed for the weekend! (I do everything on a deadline, now...) So, was this story too long? Too OOC? And by the way, did anyone go to Rick Riordan's meet and greet thing? I almost met him in Princeton. Still upset about that.<strong>

**Peace, Love, and Percy Jackson,  
>Awesome Sauce <strong>


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